Interesting phone. Good for taking photos of little boy and me at the baby swimming pool.

And the price I think is pretty good. I got my Acro S also around that price point. But my Acro S came with a charging dock free inside the package, and it was a very affordable charging dock. I bought an additional unit for around RM25 (if I'm not mistaken) to put in my office, so that I always charge the phone using the dock and not remove the flap and charge via the USB socket. I think that really is important key point (to charge using the dock) because less wear and tear on the flap means less chance for water ingress, and the water proof functionality remains intact.

True. The last time I opened up the USB port flap.... was to update the firmware. Lolz....

For some reason that I cannot explain, I don't like the Z. Maybe the shape or the size of it. It just doesn't float ma boat. But this ZR is nice. I don't think it is fair to compare the price of a fresh new product against the price of one that has already been on the market for a while now. This holds especially true for most, if not all, consumer electronics.

My motorola defy has removable battery. i still have it as a spare phone till now. immersed in water countless times already. still as good as ever. well used and battered phone...

I am still undecided about ZL vs. ZR. Waterproofing and all is nice, but there is something about the ZL form factor that really attracts me.

This comparison doesn't help me much either

http://versus.com/en/sony-xperia-zr-vs-sony-xperia-zl

According to that site:

5 points in favor of ZR:
1) Dustproof and water proof (we all know that already)
2) ZR is 1.90mm (!) more narrow than the ZL. (frankly speaking, is this really that much of a difference?)
3) ZR is 0.60mm (!!!) shorter than the ZL. (again.... it's so marginal)
4) ZR has 2 microphones vs ZL's one. Probably for noise cancellation.
5) ZR is 13gm lighter than ZL.

but.... ZL has ELEVEN (11 !) pluses against the ZR???
1) ZL has continuous AF while shooting video, but ZR don't have. Anyone can confirm this?
2) ZL has double the internal storage of ZR.
3) ZL can create panorama in camera, but not ZR. Again, can anyone confirm this? Even my Acro S can do panorama in camera....
4) ZL has much higher pixel density. Can my eyes actually tell the difference between 441 ppi and 319 ppi?
5) ZL has bigger screen. (duh...)
6) ZL is 0.60mm (!!!) thinner than ZR.
7) ZL has a videa light but ZR don't have. You mean ZR's LED light don't work during video? That's odd.
8) ZL has 2.75% LESS (!!!!!!) body volume compared to ZR. (this is gettign ridiculous)
9) ZL camera has manual exposure control, but not the ZR. This is important to me, who loves photography.
10) ZL has higher resolution (Full HD) vs. ZR (HD only). Isn't this covered in point 4) ?
11) ZL has electronic image stabilizer, whereas the ZR has none. Can anyone verify this?

Again, these are points from the website which I posted the link to. Not my own. The phone shop I always like to go to mentioned they will have the ZR in by today. I was comparing the screen of the ZL vs. Z. There is a marked difference in screen clarity between the two. Both phones were set to using the same wallpaper, and set to maximum brightness. The ZL seems to have much better screen clarity than the Z. Hopefully the ZR will arrive today and I will get to test the ZL vs. ZR screen clarity on the spot, before making a decision whether to buy the ZL or the ZR.... or keep my Acro S.

This post has been edited by kysham: Jul 11 2013, 03:00 PM

Thanks for verifying. That means this website really is rubbish. Anyway, the shop still haven't got the ZR in stock yet, so I can't do a physical feel feel of the ZR. But I can say that the screen clarity of my Acro S is significantly (meaning, very obvious to the human eyes) better than the Z or the ZL. Z has the worst clarity. The ZL has better clarity, but it still cannot beat my Acro S. The Acro S has much deeper blacks and colors are more crisp. ZL is very close to it, but Z is far away. Funny thing is, the price range of these 3 phones goes the other way round!

Still waiting for the shop to call me to say the ZR has arrived and awaiting my test drive.

All screen setting on all 3 phones were set to MAXIMUM. Acro S still has the better contrast and deeper black. I am not aware of the firmware improving the contrast or blackness. I thought this is very much a hardware related characteristic, no?

I tried XZ, XZL, XZR and Acro S side by side. XZL & XZR screen is exactly the same in terms of clarity and contrast, meaning both still loses to the Acro S. I cannot believe how good the Acro S screen was. But eventually I walked off with the XZL and not the XZR. I guess IP58 in itself is really insufficient to convince me. XZL has a bigger and much higher resolution screen in not much a bigger phone size. It also has double the internal memory size, and a IR transmitter which I sometimes find useful. It seems that both the XZR & XZL uses the same EXMOR RS sensors, which is supposed to perform better in low light. Not sure about the XZ.

.... but there's now another twist to the story. After I picked up the XZL and left the shop, I realized that the earpiece loudspeaker is not working! i.e. I received a call and when trying to listen to the call with the phone next to my ear, no sound. But when I switch to loudspeaker mode, the other person's voice can be heard loud and clear from the rear loudspeaker! Twice factory reset, and updated the firmware to 4.2.2 also the issue remains. Guess I got a lemon copy. It was already too late and the shop was closed for Saturday, and today Sunday, shop was not open for business. Guess I will have to go back to the shop tomorrow to either claim a 1 to 1 exchange for another new XZL, or..... I am fated to get the XZR! hahaha.....

This post has been edited by kysham: Jul 14 2013, 02:37 PM

yeah.... now with ZL, so better keep queit in ZR thread. *lurker mode ON*

Tadaa...... my AP set ZL I sent back and requested for 1 to 1 exchange (since the problem surfaced the very next day). Problem is, no stock for AP ZL until next week. So the shop offered to exchange for me an original Sony Malaysia set ZR. Guess I am back into the ZR thread actively again. Hahaha.....

The Sony Malaysia set I got is C5502.

Me is in Kota Kinabalu, lagi no hope of reliable LTE until dunno when....

Damn, none of those places I visit on a regular basis. Anyway, I am on DiGi unlimited data plan contract for 2 years (another 15 months to go), so all this is irrelevant to me. Yes, everyone says DiGi is crap in West Malaysia, but surprisingly, their coverage and speed is pretty decent here in Sabah. In some instances, they actually did better than the big two's.

And I don't download tonnes of stuff with my phone that requires high speed. In the office, I have a 4mbps streamyx line which has proven to be quite stable, so no fret. So to me, LTE or no LTE is not a factor. Even if both versions are available, but at different price point, I will still take the non LTE version if it was significantly cheaper. But everyone's requirements are different, obviously. To some, their handphone is their only main internet access portal, so I guess to this group of users, having LTE phone (with LTE coverage) is a preferred choice.

New small app downloaded that can temporarily disable the touch screen so that it will not interfere with taking photos or recording video underwater. That's USEFUL!

Not sure if the Play store has it, I downloaded from the Sony Update Center app in the ZR.

Don't see anyone selling the dock yet. I saw a couple on eBay, but still very expensive at USD60+ each. Considering the fact that the XZ dock only sells for around USD10 each, I say wait for a while longer for more docks to become available.

No lah, customs usually will not tahan these things. I had used eBay countless times before. No issues so far. Got one used camera lens kena tahan before by Pos Malaysia. But that was because the lens' value was more than RM1000. Open up the packaging in front of the officer and show them what is was. Lepas. No issues.

I think they won't tahan you unless you bought in bulk with intention to resell. Even that also I seldom hear people complain kena tahan. Just don't put cocaine in the box lah. hahaha.....

Where's the damn IR transmitter located on the phone anyway? I couldn't get it to work properly. Hahaha....

The dock is available in Malaysia already? Yeay...!!!

Anyone bought the dock yet? Need to special order or what?